TomBettle

arrrr those were the days. My crowning moment at Maplesden Noakes School Play in Maidstone at the tender age of 12. I was "Moley" in Wind in the Willows Still remember my opening lines today whilst hidden under a pile of leaves... "Scrape and scratch and scrabble and scrooge, scrooge and scrabble and scrape and scratch... ...Up we go... ...Up we go... POP! Is that a river? Oooooh IS IT? I've never seen a river before... ...HANG SPRING CLEANING! This is better than white wash..." (Ratty enters stage left) Hello Ratty Welcome to our River! Tom Not completely mad really

Price Reduced to

Hi Adam Sikaflex 291 is tough stuff. Each year at Southampton Boat Show they build a little boat out of marine ply and sikaflex only! It should be more than tough enough so why screw into the bottom of your boat needlessly. One standard sized tube (310ml) and a caulking gun should be loads. In one of the most expensive chandleries you can find (Salterns) it is

Quote: Tom - the optimum (critical/key/?) word you used was brillo. Next you will be trying to convince me that when you said 'hoover' you meant use a 'dustpan and brush'..... Actually I don't posses a "Hoover", mine is a Vax.

Duncan you forgot the optimum word that was used was "soft" I don't know the name of those spongy ones with a gentle nylon style hair. I most certainly do not advocate using wire wool etc to clean yuor hull And not too sure about what the enviromentalists would say, but the bottle says the following: Front: Starbrite Instant HULL CLEANER (+ very expensive Salterns Chandlery price tag) Cleans Scum lines and Stains on Boat Hulls Easily and Effortlessly. (then smaller fainter print) DANGER Poison, eye Irritant. Reverse: Directions: Shake Well Apply using sponge or sprayer. Use of rubber gloves is recommended. Allow to remain on surface for two minutes then rinse with fresh water. Severely stained or dirty surfaces may require a second application. For best results use when temperature is over 50F. To shineand protect newly cleaned hull, apply Star brite Marine Polish or Teflon Polish (mmmm more money). Something about being dangerous and harmful.... Contains Oxalic Acid. Nothing on the bottle mentions "do not pour into water as you will be arrested and sent to prison for a long time" Tom

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Some pics coming up:

Ok Spec as follows: 2001 Merry Fisher 580 with 2001 Honda 50Hp 4 stroke engine. Open Pilot House Style with locking forward cabin LOA: 19 feet Beam: 8 feet Draft: 1 foot 1.5 inches Air Draft: 7 feet 4 inches Standard Inventory includes: Nav Lights Self Draining Decks Vee berth and cushions in forward cabin with storage under Pilot and Co-pilot "reversible" seat pods with storage under Removable rear quarter seats Battery with isolator switch in lazarette (posh word for cokpit locker) Built in 100 litre fuel tank Additional Extras & Info: Mooring equipment Anchoring Equipment Aft Closing for Helm After market windscreen wiper at helm Navman Fish 450 colour fish finder with speed Cockpit table Chemical Toilet 2 Spare propellers that appear as new Storage pockets fitted at helm Radar Reflector The owner has "loose" fitted a carpet material in the cabin and also a "loose" non slip material in the cockpit. The boat appears to be in very good condition. She carries the usual grubby grime associated with a Winter ashore, but there is no obvious damage or marks with the exception of a tiny gel repair (smaller than a little finger nail) at the stem. The engine looks excellent and the boat is supplied with full chain of title, all original documentation and subsequent receipts / history. The owner will be removing the name "Sea Tiger" She has been kept ashore at Mitchells in Poole for the last few seasons and as such is not antifouled. From Friday 10th March she will be lying at Salterns Marina Any inspection, browsers welcome. She is to be advertised by us elsewhere at

Hi Mike This is the same stuff you might buy in a chandlers under the name "hull cleaner". Chandleries sell it at very high prices in 500ml bottles. Get a soft brillo pad / scourer, dob some of the stuff on and use plenty of elbow grease over the hull. You can watch the whole lot change back to the original hull colour in front of your eyes. After an hour, jet wash it off and hey presto, new looking hull. It is nasty stuff and always where your marigolds (I didn't and my hands were b@ggered for weeks), but it isn't used in vast quantities. I used it my other boat "Nautibusiness" which isn't antifouled and guessed the whole 21 foot hull took about 300 odd ml including the stuff that spilt all over my jacket, hands, trousers etc. If you took a 10 gallon drum and poured it down the drain I am sure there would be an issue, but a couple of hundred ml diluted a billion squillion times shouldn't pose a problem. Tom

Sorry all, very Blatant advert! Admin guys, would you kindly remove this once everyone has had a chance to view it and pm etc A P/X may be accepted. This boat is coming in to me as the owner is trading up. ANYONE interested in full details then please pm me and as soon as I have them (by Friday fingers crossed) you will have them. Check out my ugly mug in Sea Dangler magazine (I have a copy here) back in May of last year (I think May?) to see what Dave Lewis thought of the boat. Browsers Welcome (but please don't waste my time ) Buyers even more welcome. Sold to the closest offer to

"Blow Lug" Arrrr, now I see. This is the latest hip way of describing "chasing the dragon" is it? sniff sniff Used to fish the Bristol Channel a lot and really enjoyed it. Normally down at Minehead or over at Penarth. It was a while a go, but I am sure we got a really good Spring run of cod about now. Not sure whether they get them at Burnham, but sadly I cannot make it there. Would have lvoed to have taken "Nautibusiness", but duty, daughter and work all call. Pennell rig chucked well up or across the tide loaded with a good half dozen blow lug, one black lug for good measure and a chunky strip of squid... .... the dogfish loved it

....sniff sniff

Hi Jake Nice to meet you at the show and looking forward to trying out the "stuff". Regards Tom

Well done Rich Very excited by the showing of Plaice! Can you pm me with an idea of where please. Thanks Tom

Hi Fred Mate you are even nuttier than me! Almost 100 miles and no fish. Even if the fishing is sole destroying it is still nice to be on the water. I was turning my mooring ropes into a noose and chucking it over the radar tower when we did 65 miles for one fish! I would take my hat off to you sir, but it was eaten last time I guaranteed someone a good days fishing. Well done for trying Tom

Hi Simon Sorry we missed you, but we arrived just after opening and were done... ...just after opening. For me the show was naff, but I did enjoy ctaching up with one or two old friends and I was dead chuffed with a free copy of the book that JW was plugging. The Sea Angler demonsrtations were almost exclusively for beach fishing beginners and not the more salty sea dogs of the boat anglng world so I have to agree they were dull and basic to say the least. I am not sure if the guys doing the demo's / talks can be blamed for this as tey are purely given a brief to follow. One of the guys would be relatively unknown to the boat angler, but, Tony Anderson (MD of Greys) is a top North East match fisherman. I have no idea what he is talking about most of the time, not because it involves catching red cod in nothern kelp beds, but more because of his rather strong geordie accent. He is an absolutely top bloke though, even if a demo of how to rig a blow lug isn't for us. Once again, I am torn. Good company in the form of Martin on a day when I would normally be working, met some great old friends and discussed a few future fishing forays, but the show was pants beyond belief. Tom

Performance props do need to be fairly finely "tuned" or balanced in much te same way a wheel does on a car. If a little out of balance you will find considerably more vibration and a loss of performance. Dependng on the damage you may find you can get it sorted out. If it isn't noticeable then don't worry too much, but get it sorted if it is a problem. Tom

I came up with Martin and when we got in we separated as he wanted a general nose around I wanted to say Hi to a few friends. To say dissapointing about the show itself was an understatement. We exhibited last year to a very mediocre response and I am very pleased we weren't there this year as the sea section was all but non existent with most of what I would call the key suppliers being absent. The boat dealers that were there are only there as a PR exercise and the tackle manufacturers becasue they are expected to be there. I came up trumps with nice freebie from good ol John Wilson, but that was about all that put a smile on my face and I would think Martin feels pretty much the same. The Salt ex guys were good and so was there deal. Looking forwad to trying their boat cleaning products to see if it saves on the washing down effort. I think it will take an awful lot to make the three hour drive worthwhile next year. ....A bit naff me thinks Tom

Bob If you like I can ask for a quote for a complete set of two as you saw. They are rake adjustable and height adjustable, but both moving mechanisms are rather basic, although the seats are very comfy. I imagine they will be rather expensive compared with off the self jobbies though. If of interest I may be able to check out a few trade catalogues for you too... Tom

Good luck with your Chrimbo pressie Dave Tom

Hi Kam I used to have a Dell Quay 15 which was a super little boat in calm seas, at anchor and on the drift (stability was great for such a tiny boat). The downside came when trying to make good headway in any form of chop... ...It slammed like a goodun. The Dory and Cathedral style hulls have some great benefits and they can be like fishing from a pontoon, but such a wide entry bow is bound to make for a bumpy ride in a chop. If you go for this style be very careful of the amount of freeboard as usually it is all but non existent (on the Dell Quay anyway) and you may want to consider fitting extra rails for safety. With regards open boats generally, the more modern centre console stye do tend to offer a level of protection underway (to varying degrees depending on console and screen size) and on a clear winters day are not realy any worse than open cuddy styles, however if the heavens open you have no real place to shelter (the bigger ones have sit in consoles) and still see your gear. The huge plus to them is tremendous all round space, great for drifting, uptiding, retrieving the anchor, taking the family out etc etc. The majority are quite sporty and will also double up as ski boats etc should you want them to. You are welcome to come and have a quick blast on the one I used for the PBSBAC training day. I am not suggesting for one minute that this actual boat would be the boat for you as, relatively speaking, it is huge, however it will give you a very good all round impression of an open boat. This model is produced down to 17 feet rather than the 25 footer here. Tom Tom